Grandchildren’s Perceptions of Grandparents’ Use of Relational Maintenance Behaviors

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to examine (a) grandchildren’s perceptions of the extent to which their grandparents’ use relational maintenance behaviors; (b) grandchildren’s perceived differences in grandparents’ use of relational maintenance behaviors as functions of grandparent sex, grandchild sex, and grandparent–grandchild (GP-GC) family lineage; and (c) the relationships between grandchildren’s perceptions of their grandparents’ use of relational maintenance behaviors and the grandchildren’s self-reported GP-GC relational characteristics. Young adult grandchildren ( N = 209) completed a questionnaire in reference to a specific GP-GC relationship. Descriptive statistics indicated that grandparents use the seven relational maintenance behaviors (i.e., advice, assurances, conflict management, networks, openness, positivity, and tasks) to different degrees. However, the multivariate analyses of variance did not indicate any significant effects for grandparent and grandchild sex or GP-GC family lineage on perceived grandparental use of relational maintenance behaviors. Conversely, Pearson correlations provided support for the hypothesized positive relationships between grandchildren’s perceptions of their grandparents’ use of relational maintenance behaviors and the grandchildren’s self-reported GP-GC relational characteristics.